“ A fat man is never so happy as when he is describing himself as ‘robust’. ”
George Orwell, Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936). copy citation
| Author | George Orwell |
|---|---|
| Source | Keep the Aspidistra Flying |
| Topic | |
| Date | 1936 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200021.txt |
Context
“But of course, like other fat people, he never admitted to being fat. No fat person ever uses the word ‘fat’ if there is any way of avoiding it. ‘Stout’ is the word they use—or, better still, ‘robust’. A fat man is never so happy as when he is describing himself as ‘robust’. Flaxman, at his first meeting with Gordon, had been on the point of calling himself ‘robust’, but something in Gordon’s greenish eye had deterred him. He compromised on ‘stout’ instead.
‘I do admit, chappie,’ he said, ‘to being—well, just a wee bit on the stout side.”
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